Mendocino County supervisors pass budget on first day

On the first day of three scheduled for its annual budget hearings, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously passed the county's 2013-14 budget.

Citing a nearly $9 million reserve, spokeswoman Anna Bakalis of Mend Mendocino -- a group recently formed by Service Employees International Union, Local 1021 -- said Monday that the group had planned to speak on the budget today about reinstating county workers' cut wages, and to hold a demonstration outside the meeting hall.

The group had made its debut and asked about reinstating wages for county workers at a recent budget meeting in Ukiah, the final in a series meetings held in all five of the county's supervisor districts that led up to the budget hearings.

Bakalis expressed disappointment Monday afternoon at the board's early vote.

"County workers and residents -- even the grand jury report -- have all been critical about the lack of transparency of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors just proved today that those criticisms are still valid," she wrote in an e-mail to the Daily Journal.

"By ending the public budget hearings two days early, it is clear they don't want to have residents really comment on their budget or engage in a real discussion with the community. These budget hearings were scheduled to happen for three days, and it was sold to the community as such."

She said county workers and community members, as part of the Mend Mendocino coalition, would still speak to the board on the budget and "this egregious example of a lack of transparency" during the public comment portion of its regularly scheduled meeting today, and still planned to demonstrate outside the county administration center as originally planned.

The Board of Supervisors has in years prior planned three days for its annual budget hearings, but adoption of the final budget on the first or second day is not unusual.

The county's adopted $223.8 million 2013-14 budget includes $156.8 million in spending from the county's general fund and a $200,266 increase in discretionary revenue, according to the county Executive Office.

The CEO's report to the board says county revenue streams "continue to inch upward but remain relatively flat." Revenue over which the board has discretion, including local property taxes, increased 0.3 percent over 2012-13, according to the Executive Office.

The final 2013-14 budget adopted Monday builds the county's reserve from $4.5 million -- roughly half of the county's goal of having a reserve of 8 to 15 percent of the general fund -- to $8.7 million.

"Our major challenge is in our revenue ... in other words, the sales tax and the property tax," 3rd District Supervisor John Pinches said. "So we're not out of the woods yet, but I feel really good about the spending plan we have this year."

Despite pay cuts and losing nearly a third of its work force in recent years, Pinches said, "I believe our level of service is the same as it's ever been."

The adopted budget also includes $2.4 million for capital improvement projects, including deferred maintenance, HVAC replacement and replacement of antiquated property tax collection software.

The budget includes a $6.7 million carryover from 2012-13, including one-time revenue of $1.5 million from the state-directed dissolution of redevelopment agencies and a $1.6 million carryover from state realignment funds through the county's Health and Human Services Agency.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.